The very first new game to be shown at the 2012 edition of the annual Spike Video Game Awards this past Friday was a title by the name of ‘The Phantom Pain,’ which was showcased with a visually impressive (but conceptually very mysterious) trailer filled with haunting and supernatural imagery.

While a gigantic flaming whale flying through the air and chomping down on a helicopter is an exciting sight in its own right, speculation surrounding the trailer has reached fever pitch as punters point to an impending reveal of Metal Gear Solid 5.

In development at Moby Dick Studios based in Sweden, The Phantom Pain seems to star a character who has been in a coma for “quite some time,” having lost a limb with a mechanical prosthetic in its place. The trailer takes us through a journey of tense, vivid imagery as this so-called soldier attempts to escape a hospital facility under attack by an unknown group of assailants.

That’s when the speculation began.

‘Net denizens pointed out that the first name of CEO of Moby Dick Studios, Joakim Mogren, is an anagram for ‘Kojima,’ or Hideo Kojima, creator of the Metal Gear series. Members of Konami were spotted in attendance at the Spike VGAs 2012, too, all sporting ‘The Phantom Pain’ shirts.

In addition, the scenes of the trailer for The Phantom Pain appear decidedly Kojima Productions-esque, with clean, detailed visuals and movement. The main character portrayed in the trailer also shares some striking signature resemblances to MGS protagonist Solid Snake, including a very bandana-like bandage (covering what looks like an eye patch) and iconic hair style.

The most concrete piece of evidence to support the theory that The Phantom Pain is indeed a teaser for the announcement of Metal Gear Solid 5 is the trailer’s title card at the end of the video, which includes negative space cut into the logo where another set of words could be place…

NeoGAF members are keeping up with all of the evidence and have collected everything together in one place for you to see, but for now you can watch the trailer for yourself below:

The Phantom Pain – Spike VGA 2012 Trailer

What do you think? Is there enough evidence to support the theory that this is actually Metal Gear Solid 5? The Phantom Pain, while alluding to a real medical disorder, isn’t a particularly great name for a videogame…